Fighting Cancer With Facebook

by Christ Berdik
[an article from the Fall 2008 issue of Bostonia, BU's alumni magazine]

The article is about Eric Ding, a high school athlete who was diagnosed with a malignant chest tumor and 5 years to live. Ding survived his battle with cancer and went on to devote himself to medicine, earning dual doctorates from Harvard by 24 years old. Almost equally important, Ding devotes himself to cancer advocacy, creating a "cause" on Facebook to raise money and spread reliable information about cancer risk factors. In one week, he attracted 10,000 members, and a million in a month. He has since gone on to launch a cancer research foundation called "The O Campaign".

This is a great success story of someone who not only conquered the disease, but took advantage of his survivorship to contribute something positive to the world. I can relate to this experience of survivorship; the heightened desire to help eradicate the problem of cancer. There is also the emotional, more individual perspective; remembering the difficulty of going through it, and wanting to spare anyone else from having to go through it themselves-- that's where the importance of awareness and preventative cancer screenings come into play. As a survivor myself, I feel that I've been given a unique chance (and responsibility) to do what I can. I may not be a doctor or a scientist, but if my weapon is art, then that is what I will use.